Thoughts on change

Awareness, choice, acceptance

“Chambered nautilis shell” designed by me

I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty and complexity of sea shells. I wanted to find a good symbol for change and growth, and this sort of shell shows the process.

I’ve been traveling recently, and in doing so I have become aware of changes and continuity. Things which I used to do, I still enjoy. But as I age, I find that I need to pace myself, slow down, do more planning so that I can still accomplish what I intend. Other things I don’t enjoy to the extent I once did. And I am open to discovering new things to appreciate. Nothing stays the same.

Here are some sayings on change. I relate to these.

“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.” Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin.

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” Anatole France, The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” The American novelist, essayist, and civil rights activist James Baldwin originally wrote these words in an essay titled “As Much Truth As One Can Bear,” published in The New York Times Book Review on January 14, 1962

I hope you enjoy and find meaning in these quotes.